Not sure what it was exactly, but something kept us from checking these guys out before now. Ultimately it might have been the band's penchant for dressing up in period costumes for their record covers. Who knows. Whatever it was, we're sure kicking ourselves now, this record is a killer. And it sounds nothing like we would have imagined from the name and the album cover and the label. Yeah, we know, book, cover, book cover. We're sorry. We were wrong. We love this record. Penance? All we can do now is try to convince you all how great it is. And it is. Some impossible hybrid of classical chamber music, post rock and sludge metal. Sort of. Or if you can imagine the Rachels, or maybe Godspeed You Black Emperor in their practice space, and every few minutes when someone opens the door, the sound of Corrupted, who practice right across the hall and leave their door open all the time, comes rushing in. Big riffs battle keening strings, huge pummeling waves of downtuned guitar, segue into near pastoral stretches of moody meandering post rock, or occasional bits of moody psychedelic folks, with lilting vocals and gentle guitars, or long passages of classical guitar, or gorgeously abstract ambient interludes constructed from subtle vocals and Eastern tinged drones but they eventually always return to the RIFF, exploding in a frenzy of guitar versus string section, like a heavy metal Dirty 3 or Apocalyptica jamming with Boris, or... heck we don't know, it's just so perfectly schizophrenic, veering wildly from heaviness to melancholy moodiness and back again over and over and over. Epic and dreamy and heavy and darn near perfect. We love discovering new music, sort of why we do this, but there's definitely a special satisfaction and secret joy in realizing a band you thought sucked actually completely kills! Being wrong never felt so right!
New issue of the UK's new music Bible, The Wire. On the cover this month, LIGHTNING BOLT. Inside: Vashti Bunyan, Ray Russell, Tujiko Noriko, Ken Hyder, Susanne Brokesh, a primer on Jamaican deejays, tons of reviews and all that jazz, er, we mean, modern music. This issue includes a copy of the Wire Tapper 14 cd compilation including tracks by This Heat, Nels Cline, Cobra Killer, Dirty Projectors, Cage, Secret Mommy, Ray Russell and more!
Love 'em or hate 'em, ain't nobody gonna put a stopper in the musical geyser of those two Johns from Brooklyn. They've put out so much music over the years that it's hard to imagine that they could possibly have anything left in their vaults to unveil, but they apparently do! They are 'lost' no longer! And all of you They Might Be Giants fans / completists can find 'em right here -- all 21 of 'em including odes to NPR's This American Life program and the fabulous McSweeney's Quarterly Concern literary journals. There are a bunch of super treats here that are just as good if not better than many of the duo's album tracks, and of course there are a couple cringe-inducing numbers that we sorta wish had remained in storage, but granted they also serve to flesh out the already very fleshed out TMBG history. A wonderfully varied and still cohesive collection!
Originally recorded in 1991 and never actually released, Thy Grief Eternal is the band that would later become Eternal and then of course later still, the mighty stoner sludge behemoth Electric Wizard. But back in '91, Jus Osborn and his merry band of metalheads soundee completely different, as it was 1991, and in the UK, Thy Grief Eternal sounds like they would have been right at home on Earache, alongside Carcass, Napalm Death, Godflesh and the like. Pounding industrial sludge doom, with grunted gutteral death metal style vocals, pounding relentless drumming and BIG RIFFS, very sludgy and crusty, much more akin to the ultra slow, monochromatic dirge of funeral doom, as they had yet to discover the groove that would play such a crucial part in their later sound.
Two lengthy tracks. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!
Alright, Thanksgiving has just passed so we figure we can offically start unfurling the holiday cheer (heck, the department stores started weeks ago!). Let's begin with these New York pop kids Tralala and their cleverly titled Christmas EP Falala-la-la With Tralala. There's no "Little Drummer Boy" nor even the somewhat expected "Deck The Halls" here. Nope, what you get are three Tralala originals "Christmas Never Comes (When You're Alone)", "Holiday Hearts" and "Everybody Christmastime". Sorta like a tinsel-adorned hybrid of The Donnas, Bananarama and The Flatmates.
Psst... if you're looking for more early bird Christmas-y treats, we've also just received Brian Wilson's delightful What I Really Want For Christmas, a collection of old and new tunes. And don't forget Bathtub Shitter's Xmas 3"cd on Andee's tUMULt label!
By now, we're sure most of you heard about the horrible accident that claimed the life of DMBQ drummer China, and left the rest of the band as well as their booker / tour manager (and AQ pal) Michelle injured and hospitalized. And as is always the case with situations like these, most musicians are uninsured, and need all the help they can get to help pay their medical bills and try to recover, regroup and make it home.
So this here comp is one way you can help. 100 percent of the proceeds goes direct to the band to help them get back on their feet. And as if helping out a bunch of cool folks and a kick ass band to boot wasn't enough, you also get this killer comp out of the deal. New and exclusive tracks from Comets On Fire. Paik, Trans Am, Lightning Bolt, Burmese, Fucking Champs, Ezeetiger, Ludicra, No Doctors, Nate Denver's Neck, and more!!! And if you want to do more, you can donate via Paypal to this address: dmbqpanache@lovepumpunited.com or by mail to this address: Lovepump United, PO BOX 3241, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603.
And again our condolences to the band and friends and family for the loss of China, and our best wishes for speedy recoveries all around.
This will most likely end up being the most essential, and due to its ultra limited status, soon to be most sought after, black metal artifact of 2005. Three discs, six bands, some you know, some you've never heard of, all completely killer. And unlike a normal compilation, each band on Crushing The Holy Trinity contributes 20-30 minutes of music instead of just a single five minute track. Three discs, titled appropriately enough, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, two bands to a disc. Most of you will probably need this just for the exclusive Deathspell Omega track, and rightfully so. A single 22 minute track (nearly as long as their recent full length!), epic and totally amazing, lots of moody post rock rhythms, grim black metal crush, and all sorts of damaged squiggly guitars, and unlikely riffs, strange arrangements and all the brilliantly un-black metal stuff that makes DSO's black metal so compelling. But the other five bands manage to hold their own, and then some! The other band on the Father disc with DSO is a band we had never heard of, Stabat Mater, whose lengthy single track is bleak and gorgeously depressive, a monstrous gutteral bellowing over a dreary melancholic doomscape, brutal blackened dooooom. Pretty darn good. Disc Son starts off with four tracks from Finnish BM outfit Musta Surma, another band new to us, who deliver buzzing blasts of harsh and brittle, true and grim sounding thrashy black metal. Then comes Clandestine Blaze, a band we are quite familar with, and who despite having never been reviewed on the AQ list, are one of our favortie BM outfits. Thick guitars, churning and crunchy, with minor key melodies atop them, a bit like Xasthur's Nocturnal Poisoning, all midtempo and hypnotic, with lots of strange ambient drones and creepy martial percussion. Really cool! The final disc, Holy Spirit, introduces us to two more bands we knew nothing about. First up, the curiously named Mgla, who definitely hit the spot for classic grim black metal, super buzzy and droney, very lo-fi, lots of thrashing rhythms and mosquito buzz riffage and demonic howls! The big surprise out of all these bands would definitely have to be Exordium, who completely kicked our asses tens seconds into their first song. Wow! Super white hot hyperdistorted buzz guitar, lightning fast blast beats, killer riffs, the whole thing blown out and recorded so hot the speakers can barely handle it!
The whole thing comes packaged in super nice, DVD sized cardboard sleeve, with a big booklet, two pages for each bands, with photos and liner notes.
SUPER LIMITED. We have a bunch of these in stock, and a bunch more on the way from Finland, but be prepared to be patient, and realize that we won't have these for long!!!
We hope you left some room on your cd shelves next to the recently released Invisible Pyramid: Elegy Box 6cd set we reviewed recently. 'Cuz this almost plays like it could be discs 7, 8 and 9 of that set. That said, Gold Leaf Branches has it's own angle for sure, but sonically it still falls firmly right there in that abstract drone-y free psych folk world we all love. Just a glimpse of the bands should telll you all you need to know: Six Organs Of Admittance, Kuupuu, Hala Strana, Maniacs Dream, James Blackshaw, Keijo, Robert Horton, Wolfmangler, Charalambides, Brothers Of The Occult Sisterhood, Rameses III, Claypipe, Marissa Nadler, Hush Arbors, Lost Domain, Lau Nau, Dead Raven Choir... C'mon, that's like the psychfolk dream comp. And that's barely a third of the bands on here! And that's exactly what makes this collection so exciting, so many bands who you've never heard of creating magical music as good as any/all of the bands you're already familiar with. Check out Stuart Busby, Alligator Crystal Moth, Soarwhole, Visitations, Oxblood Reincarnations, Weird Weeds, Snowfoxx, The Magical Folk Of The Faraway Tree, Wax Ghost, Plat Ypus, Agitated Radio Pilot, Terracid and so many more. This comp will no doubt see folks dashing madly to the internet to dig up more recordings by these mysterious groups.
All new and exclusive tracks, packaged in a gorgeous metallic gold inked parchment sleeve (although they really should have sprung for some inner sleeves instead of just using the liner note insert to separate the three discs).
Not sure if this is exactly 'hilarious' as the title implies, but it sure is creepy, and unsettling, and at times very very annoying. But in that way we can never seem to get enough of. Hilarity & Despair is a collection of found, lost and purloined answering machine tapes, an uncomfortably voyeuristic glimpse into the private telephone lives of random strangers. Hints of unseemy behavior, small town scandal, infidelity and marital strife abound, often so extreme it's funny, but more often so intense it makes you feel kid of, well, dirty. Plenty of pissed off moms and girlfriends, many calling back over and over and over, increasingly upset with each call, some apologetic boyfriends, slurring drunks, lots of drama, but there are a handful of phone calls that are just plain FUCKED UP: unexplainable weirdness, strange voices, indecipherable messages, unexplained sounds, completely irrational rants, and those are the calls that make this an essential addition to the ever growing 'what the fuck' section of your collection.
We were so excited when we heard that the newest installment in the always-cool Love Peace And Poetry series was going to focus on Turkish Psychedelic music! For a few years now, we've been loving all the '60s and '70s Turkish psych we could lay our hands on (which unfortunately is not as much as we'd like). We've had reissues of such bands as Mogollar, 3 Hur-el, Erkin Koray, Edip Akbayram, and Bulent. So, when we heard about this comp, we were excited -- but also wary of getting TOO excited, faced with the possibilty that this would simply consist of tracks by artists we already know and love, from records we already own, with nothing new and unknown to sate our appetite for more Middle Eastern psych treats. Well, holy halva! We couldn't have been more blown away when we finally got this in. Of the sixteen tracks, only five were by the above mentioned artists, while the rest were by artists totally unknown to us. And on top of that, EVERY track is amazing! From the Eastern-tinged, faux sitar, raga-like sixties garage rock of Selda, to the sunny proggy keyboard heavy folk of Ozdemir Erdogan, to the crooning soulful psych of Alpay, to the almost disco-y wild guitar groove of Hardal, to the strange Ethiopiques meets ska horns of Erkut Tackin. Wow! A lot of killer cuts on this one. We just can't stop playing it. Definitely lives up to the standards set by the two compilations that pretty much first introduced us to the Turkish psych scene, Hava Narghile on Bacchus Archives and (the now out of print) Turkish Delights on Grey Past.
And why do we like Turkish psych so much? Well, Turkey has a long tradition of musical talent to begin with, and being a part of Europe as well as Asia, the whole phenomenon of East-meets-West hybridization (in this case, traditional Anatolian folk and '60s pop beat) makes for some amazing music that couldn't come from anyplace else. Plus, psychedelia as a musical genre has always held a fascination with the East, the exotic... so psych music FROM such lands has a built-in advantage. Just check this out and you'll see.
There has yet to be a Pop Ambient compilation (we're up to number 6 now) that hasn't gone straight to our "most listened to" pile, and more often than not, that pile of special sleep cds we all keep by our bed. Makes perfect sense as there are very few records we get that are as deliriously dreamy and sweetly sleepy and gorgeously gossamer and late night langorous as these Pop Ambients. For those of you who don't know what the heck we're talking about, Pop Ambient is a mutant strain of techno that does away completely with all the beats, and almost all vestiges of the techno framework, leaving nothing but the ghostly remnants, drifting otherworldly melodies and shimmering shuffling ambience, a gorgeous abstract swirl of smeared melody and warm layered whirls of sound. The key to Pop Ambient is that while it is indeed ambient, and instrumental, and soothingly serene, it somehow manages to never slip into New Age pap. It remains vital and dense and interesting to listen to, as much as it lets us drift away in a gauzy cloud of sparkle and shimmer. Pop Ambient 2006 is perhaps the most soft focus outing yet, every note and chord and cluster of sound rendered fuzzy and indistinct, as if viewed through a fogged up window, the whole sonic world a blurred glimpse of some other world, a vision of the past, frozen in time and drifting by us frame by frame. Pop Ambient 2006 is the musical version of laying in the grass and watching clouds drift lazily by, or floating in the sea, eyes closed, feeling the gentle swells undulate gently beneath you, a sweet, rich, warm, pure sound that envelops you in its soft embrace, like having your head wrapped in cotton, your ears filled with honey, and your body made weightless. So absolutely lovely.
As is stated on the back of this cd, this compilation features "original works and modern treatments of legendary recordings performed by today's top artists" for the video game Stubbs The Zombie.
Totally retro, totally future, totally now! Not that this collection isn't chockful of pop goodies, but noticeably absent are a few formerly omnipresent, like-minded compilation stalwarts Man Or Astro-man?, Apples In Stereo or They Might Be Giants. Participants include The Flaming Lips, The Raveonettes, The Walkmen, Ben Kweller, Cake, Phantom Planet, and Death Cab For Cutie. In the zombie spirit of bringing something back to life, these artists attempt to breathe new life into these vintage (albeit far from lifeless) songs. Some stick pretty close to the originals, while others venture out into their own (outer)space. The former is exemplified by Ben Gibbard and Co.'s cover of "Earth Angel". Anticipated to be one of the highlights, it's definitely pleasant, but surprisingly by-the-books. Ah well, if you're seeking the latter, you'll definitely find it on many of the others. Really, by the time we reached Rogue Wave's dreamy cover of Buddy Holly's "Everyday" we noted that the songs were more juicily infused with the artists' own personal touches. Highly entertaining!
There's a LOT of great Trojan vintage reggae comps out there, with a variety of concepts. Their triple cd box series alone has dozens of titles, each one focusing exclusively on everything from ganja-themed songs to Beatles covers to X-rated reggae. Really, there's so many that we can't stock 'em all, or there'd be nothing in our reggae/dub section but Trojan comps! But we do try to get some of the cooler comps in now and then, and spaghetti western inspired reggae is certainly pretty neat (right up there with all that Kung-Fu reggae, of which there is also a Trojan comp devoted, previously reviewed). So, this collection, released last year, includes tracks from 1968-1972 by such artists as The Upsetters, The Crystalites, King Stitt, Lloyd Charmers, The Destroyers, Hippy Boys and others doing songs named for either favorite spaghetti westerns or spaghetti western stars -- "A Fistful Of Dollars", "Return Of Django", "Lee Van Cleef", "Franco Nero", "Clint Eastwood", "The Bad", etc. etc. The heavily echoed song intros/skits are usually where you get the specific spaghetti western inspired content, as the songs themselves are fairly bouncy and groovy and wouldn't be mistaken for a moody Morricone score (though his famed The Good The Bad And The Ugly theme does get appropriated a few times). No, it's good ol' upbeat instrumental reggae grooves throughout. But there's plenty of gritty drama in those intros -- The Crystalites even manage a whole trilogy of tracks chronicling the rise and fall of a gunslinger called The Undertaker. Like Kung-Fu movies, these Italian westerns were popular in Jamaica at the time for the same reasons they're cult favorites today: the desperate violence and stylish visuals. So it makes sense that reggae producers would want to use 'em to sell songs. The liner notes to this comp discuss the phenomenon and explain to what films and characters each track is making reference, illustrated by reproductions of some representative film posters.
Subtitled: "Hip shaking grooves from Germany 1966-1974". Hence the "kraut" in the title -- nothing to do with the "krautrock" of Can/Faust/Amon Duul/etc., though. Nope, this very entertaining collection of twenty obscure cuts culled from rare soundtracks, singles, and library music sources is all about swingin' stuff for lounge pad hipsters, with a Teutonic twist. It starts off with the Marlene Dietrichish "From Here On It Got Rough" by Hildergard Knef, which could be a campy cabaret classic, and then ventures on into red light district funk, stoned jungle soul, and big band psychedelia, a lot of it performed by middle aged German jazz and pop musicans cashing in on the younger generation's trends. The Peter Thomas Sound Orchestra even does a cool cover of "Jumpin' Jack Flash", believe it or not (never thought I'd really enjoy hearing that particular song again so much). And there's definitely a spirit of the age, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor on display, from Kuno & The Marihuana Brass's "Marihuana Mantra" to Vivi Bach and Dietmar Schonherr's "Molotow Coctail Party". And (applause, please) the compilers have provided a cd booklet full of detailed notes on each track, full color cover pictures of the original records, and bad puns like the title ("kraut-pleasers").
Yay! Three classic albums by one of our favorite '70s prog rock bands just got reissued, with bonus tracks and remastering and vast new liner notes and all that good stuff, with more reissues to come. So we thought we'd list the two that we'd reviewed previously, and then maybe next time we can write up the other one we've got as well. Back when we first reviewed these, we did it 'cause we knew that lots of AQ customers had been digging our Italian prog recommendations (like Osanna) and buying tons of Magma reissues and of course always loving the good ol' Krautrock, and we figured that such customers are just the types who'd probably like VDGG too.
As you may know, several folks here are pretty big into the '70s prog thing (despite having been but little kids back then) and one band we really all agree on is the mighty Van Der Graaf Generator from the UK. They're definitely a bit out of the ordinary. He To He... was the group's third album, from 1970. It's a great example of their bombastic, dark power and unique instrumental formula. Saxophone (with "devices"), Hammond organ, and tympani are the sort of thing that dominates VDGG's sound, along with the crucial component of Peter Hammill's dramatic, declamatory vocals of course. He's had his own successful solo career running in parallel with Van Der Graaf from the band's very earliest days, and clearly he's a cult figure, a frontman that some will love and some will hate. His wide-ranging voice courses like blood through the flesh of this album's five epic conceptual tracks (the shortest song here is over 6 minutes, the longest more than 12), tracks that must have elicited many a "heavy, man" comment at the time. The heaviest might be opener "Killer", the sad saga of, yes, the lonely killer whale. Other songs, like "House With No Door", are more gentle and melodic, yet still quite gloomy and bleak. Please don't mistake our use of the term "heavy" here -- although Hammill's voice will sometimes rise into a metallic shriek, the Generator have more in common with jazz than heavy metal, being way more Soft Machine than Machine Head (Deep Purple).
The bonus tracks are but two in number but one of 'em is over fifteen minutes long, the previously unreleased "Squid 1 / Squid 2 / Octopus", an early VDGG concert staple recorded live in the studio.
"Pawn Hearts" was Van Der Graaf's fourth album, originally released in 1971. Like its immediate predecessor "He To He Who..." it's certainly one of their classics, equally as epic, emotive, and extravagant. These guys were outrageous musicians, ambitious lyricists, and definite prog rock nutters who made music so outre and intense at the time that it should appeal to weirdos today just as much as it did back in the early 1970s.
The side-long, ten-part "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" is one of those prog rock suites that belongs in the pantheon alongside "Karn Evil #9" and "Supper's Ready" and "Gates Of Delerium" for sure. Next to King Crimson (whose Robert Fripp contributes some guitar work on both of these albums), VDGG is the darkest, weirdest, most "outside" commercially-popular '70s prog rock band we can think of from the UK. A worthy contemporary to the likes of Magma, Amon Duul II and Goblin from the Continent.
All right, more VDGG to come on future lists...and then maybe we'll move on to Yes, Caravan and ELP!
MPEG Download: "Lemmings (Including Cog)" [/audio/vdgglemmings.mp3]
The label may be Bay Area Thrash, but not only is this label from the UK, not the Bay Area, but this is most certainly not thrash. Instead, it's a heaping mound of black and crusty doom sludge!!! Vat Of Fat offer up two length slabs of groovy sludgy stoner doom, huge lumbering riffs, barely audible gutteral vox, all crusty and crushing. Think Eyehategod, Electric Wizard and the like. But it's slow and sludgy enough to hit the spot for the more extreme doom fanatics out there (Khanate, Moss, Bunkur, etc...) but this is definitely more riffy. Big old downtuned riffs, almost stoner rock at points, but too caked in their own grit and filth and slow and pummeling to be anything but a gloriously punishing dose of planet crushing deathdoomdronedirgesludge!
As The Tide Consumes, are a much less sludgy proposition, but no less heavy, just a bit more chaotic and a bit less tail dragging. Fuzzy crusty riffs, howling screeched vocals and wild streaks of squealing feedback. Way more agitated and crusty sounding than the stonery doom of VoF, although that said, this is still plenty downtuned and churningly sludge soaked. Almost like someone tried to teach Esoteric to play black metal, or tried to get Eyehategod to somehow sound more like Neurosis. A grinding groovy seriously swampy and sludge-y metallic pummel.
LP only and as with lots of stuff like this, VERY LIMITED.
As Voivod fans mourn the loss of guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour (who sadly passed away earlier this year, a victim of cancer), they can take bittersweet enjoyment in this new DVD that collects video footage from the pioneering Quebecois sci-fi metal band's earlier years from 1983-1991, when they progressed from playing the rawest thrash you'll ever hear to levels of technical, psychedelic genius previously unheard in metal. This is the classic era of the original line-up of Piggy, Snake, Away and Blacky. You get all their '80s videos (six of 'em, including "Tribal Convictions" and their cover of Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine"), plus seven live tracks from shows in Montreal between '86 and '91, as well as some behind the scenes stuff from video shoots and in the studio recording the Nothingface album. And there's extras as well: artwork, photos, and demos. It would seem that this is essential to any serious Voivod aficionado!
Another note to Voivod fans: next year should see the release of the first-ever ART BOOK by Voivod drummer and lyrical and visual conceptualist Away, being published by Troubleman Unlimited. 'Bout time! ----* ----* Some Xmas Music!! : ----*
In the review of the last Whitehorse cd, we went on a bit about their propensity for releasing eps, and live eps at that. And only a few days later we got a sheepish email from the band, seeing if we wanted copies of their new record, a live ep?!?! Arghhhh. Well, the band has promised us that next stop will be the studio for a proper studio recorded full length, but what the hell, another 30 plus minutes of soul crushing sludge can never be a bad thing, and in the case of Whitehorse it's a very very good thing indeed. This time, the live show in question took place in Japan, but the sound is not that far removed from the first two eps. A massive slow moving lumbering sludge metal behemoth, trudging through graveyards, and ruined villages, the depths of hell and everywhere in between. This two track set is actually a wee bit speedier than their other recordings, which is a lot like saying a turtle is a wee bit faster than a tortoise, as this is still slow motion tarpit doom, but the pace is not so funereal, instead the vibe is much more Eyehategod than Khanate this time around, still harsh and abrasive and brutally heavy, but there's almost a groove going on. Which definitely lends the proceedings a sort of stonery doom vibe. As always really fucking great! Fans of Corrupted, Khanate, Eyehategod, Bunkur, Moss and all that is slow and heavy will not be disappointed.
Packaged in a beautifully printed oversized cardboard sleeve. And of course, SUPER LIMITED!!!!
Like many ol' rockers before them, Jeff Tweedy and co. have entered the 'double live album' arena with Kicking Television. It was recorded over four nights at the Vic Theatre in Chicago earlier this year, May 4th through 7th to be exact. Although they've done their share of adventuring and experimentation in the recording studio over the past few years, they prove here that they still kick plenty of ass as an easy-going live rock band. These recordings really captures the electricity of their live shows when the band and crowd are totally on and into it! An added treat is the formidable presence of Nels Cline on guitar -- always a pleasure. Included are many favorites such as "Shot In The Arm", "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart", as well as two of their Woody Guthrie covers "One By One" and "Airline To Heaven". The audience sure shows their appreciation throughout the shows, complete with singalongs! Definitely a fan pleaser!
Alright, Thanksgiving has just passed so we figure we can offically start unfurling the holiday cheer (heck, the department stores started weeks ago!). So start pourin' the eggnog!
Although some Scrooges around here have exclaimed grumpy sentiments such as "What I really want for Christmas is some better album art," who's really gonna deny Sir Brian Wilson the festive merriment that he wants nothing more than to share with us all? Yeah, the digipak case of his new What I Really Want For Christmas cd is really really really sparkly, but it certainly suits Wilson's abundance of good will and good cheer. This is a collection of old yuletide classics ("Deck The Halls", "Auld Lang Syne", "Oh Holy Night" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas"), a couple of Beach Boys tunes ("Little Saint Nick" and "The Man With All The Toys") and two new Wilson holiday originals ("What I Really Want For Christmas" and "Christmasey") -- all done in Wilson's trademark gloriously harmonious fashion.
Psst, if you're looking for more early bird Christmas-y tuneful treats, we've also just received New York pop youngsters Tralala's holiday album too. And don't forget Bathtub Shitter Xmas 3" cd on Andee's tUMULt label!
Could it be that Sweden's Witchcraft, who seem like some long-lost '70s outfit who stumbled into our era by mistake, are for real? And not some drug-induced figment of a bell-bottomed stoner/doom fantatic's imagination? Yea and verily. Firewood proves that the first Witchcraft record was no crazy fluke. That album was so good (recall, we opened our review of it by saying: "PERHAPS THEE BEST '70s-INSPIRED DOOM ALBUM EVER" in all-caps just like that!) that for their eagerly-awaited follow-up to be even half as good would be impressive. I mean, they'd set the bar pretty high. We are therefore ecstatic to report that Firewood definitely lives up to the standard established by the debut! Can't say yet if it's just almost as good, or if it's even better -- but clearly it's up there with their first disc. I don't think they've yet topped their signature song "No Angel Or Demon" (which appeared on the self-titled disc but also preceeded it on the band's first release, a 7" single) but there's plenty of great songs (and riffs) on Firewood nonetheless, to compare well with the debut. Firewood storms out of the gate with "Chylde of Fire", wanders through the morose "Wooden Cross (I Can't Wake The Dead)", bludgeons with the doomful "Queen of Bees"...and seven more, all killer.
Firewood's also got the same fat '70s vintage production (a little brighter now mayhaps) as before. And certainly their undeniable Pentagram influence (what countrymen Dungen are to Pugh Rogefeldt, Witchcraft are to early Pentagram) is still there, in spades, including a hidden bonus track Pentagram cover, which goes hand in hand with a BIG first-couple-of-Ozzy-era-Sabbath-albums influence as well. And then there's the proggier/folkier elements too, some reminders of Jethro Tull and King Crimson if not quite Comus. Though there is something pagan and ancient here that makes it clear that modern metal and stoner rock has left these guys untouched. That's the beauty of Witchcraft's nostaglic creation. It's hard to think of any current stoner rock or doom band (except for them) who would seriously throw such a disco strut into a song like the way they open "Mr. Haze". Led Zeppelin would be proud. From such unexpected songwriting moves to the folky trill in guitarist/singer/mastermind Magnus Pellander's ever-stronger, emotive voice, they've got such FEEL. That's where they excel. It's an X-factor difficult to describe but central to their success. And it must stem from two things: sheer talent, and their absolute, honest love for (and learning from) the bands that once sounded a bit (or a lot) like them. Put that together and you've got this heavy, sparkling witchy riff-rock retro genius!! If you loved the first Witchcraft, don't hesitate. And if you haven't heard 'em yet, but if you like Pentagram and Sabbath and Witchfinder General and all things heavy and '70s, you'd better lend an ear right NOW. You'll be happy you did.
Jandek's rhythm section (when Jandek's in Scotland, anyway) can be heard on their own, again, with this fine follow up to their previous VHF release, 2004's Ourselves. Richard Youngs is the better known half of this duo, being a big fave here at AQ for both his gorgeous avant-folk recordings and his more (?) experimental, dronier works -- styles that tend to overlap often in his music, as they certainly do here on Partick Rain Dance. In the mix you'll hear, among other things, distorted Sun Ra-like synth, moaning vocals, free jazzy percussion, and what sounds like a belt sander. If we had to pick a favorite track, it would probably be the sixteen minute "Music Of The Last Sun" which features Youngs' usual beautiful vocals and guitar surrounded by wigged out electronics, hissing drones and free improv. But there's lots more to like on this cd for people who consider themselves fans of, say, both The Wicker Man and Wolf Eyes... For sheer abstract abrasiveness you've got "Big Aeroplanes" which layers feedback and what sounds like garbled shortwave static, while one of the prettier pieces on the disc would have to be "Noatak Beacon", a very ceremonial-sounding track for repeating voice and bells.
Before the Pittsburg instrumental post-rock duo Zombi were into John Carpenter soundtracks, they were really REALLY into John Carpenter soundtracks! So this Zombi Anthology proves. Hopefully, you already know these guys from their debut cd on Relapse, Cosmos, that we reviewed (and recommended) as a highlight on one of our lists last year. We sold a ton of 'em, so when we made the reissue of John Carpenter's Escape From New York soundtrack our Record Of The Week a few weeks ago, we stressed that anyone into Zombi should own some Carpenter. Likewise, if you like John Carpenter soundtracks, you should definitely check out Zombi if you haven't already. On cue, here's both of Zombi's pre-Cosmos releases put together on one cd! First, there's the eight tracks of their 2002 self-titled disc, originally released by the band in a limited edition of 150 copies. It's mostly all electronic, with drum machine instead of live drums. Zombi admit the major Carpenter and Fabio Frizzi soundtrack influence on this one, and it's so obvious from the stark, quietly meancing droning synthwork and ticking drum machine percussion, oozing with horror film atmosFEAR. Their second release, the Twilight Sentinel EP (200 copies, released in 2003 for a tour with Daughters) developed their sound further towards actual loud "rock" music by adding live drums and bass guitar. On the four songs of that ep anthologized here, they continue to channel Carpenter and other scary soundtrack masters but get proggier and mathier and more rockin', coming closer to the space-metal, post-rock version of Goblin you hear on their Cosmos album. There is a hint of '80s cheesiness but that's the idea. Kitschy yet creepy. We love it. And beware of the hidden bonus track (a funky, fusiony synth sizzler *with vocals*, probably a cover of something we don't know).
Following their debut disc on the Mick Barr (Orthrelm/Octis) directed Vothoc imprint, here's an intriguing 2nd cd of hard to describe and doubtless hard to play music from this instrumental Brooklyn-based sextet, a double trio actually. Here's their formula: (tenor sax + electric guitar + drum kit) x 2. And yes, their music is suitably "mathy". It's not exactly jazz, not prog, not chamber music, but some sort of underground avantgarde amalgam of said genres. Imagine a blend of John Zorn (particularly with his Carl Stalling influenced stuff in mind) and a minimalist composer like Steve Reich, perhaps.
The disc opens with a synchronized swim through the watery rhythms of "Bump". It's chattering, breathing music that goes to extremes of repetition more than volume. There's two more tracks besides that one on here, totaling about 20 minutes overall, so I guess this qualifies as a just a "mini album" or ep. But playing this sort of precision madness is probably hard to keep up (or keep up with) for long, so the length makes sense.
